When we first started the Cedars for the Au Sable project, we thought it would take 200 years before one of our trees ended up in the river as fish cover. With a little help from this summer’s wind storm, it only took 20! This new bit of fish habitat sighted on the main branch of the Au Sable near Squirrel Bend.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE: CONSERVATION Howard Johnson is known by many in Michigan as the unofficial river-keeper of the South Branch of the Au Sable River and the 11-mile stretch of land surrounding it donated to the state by George Mason, one of the 16 founders of Trout Unlimited. Over the course of the last 30 years, he has been at the center of almost every conservation project on the Au Sable, from cedar tree plantings to telemetry studies, redd counts and more. His work is everywhere, and his love for the river his family has lived alongside for 100 years is more than evident. When members of the 020 – William…